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The lyrics dealt with harsher themes than previous releases, including the eponymous mechanized beast which disembowels its prey, and the end of the world in the song "Cathedral Spires." The guitars were also tuned down as low as C# and C,[citation needed] making a shift from the speed metal and traditional heavy metal elements of Painkiller to a more thrash/groove metal-oriented sound.[1]

The entire album seems to describe the ending of the world, from the coming of the Jugulator ("Jugulator"), to the actual ending of it ("Cathedral Spires"). Songs like "Dead Meat," "Decapitate" and "Burn in Hell" all describe the evils that humans do. In the end, the evil deeds are so great in number that it consumes and destroys the world.[citation needed]

"Brain Dead" is written from the perspective of a man who, after a tragedy, has lost the ability to move and speak and is therefore trapped in his mind, having been placed on life support. The footnote in the CD booklet for this song reads "We all have sympathy for those left to care and despair for victims of tragedy but what of the victim himself—trapped inside his body a coffin—unable to move a muscle or blink an eye but aware of the living hell he's enduring and unable to bring it to an end—a man not even a shadow of his former self—a man who wants to be remembered for what he was—not forgotten because of what he has become."

Reaction to the album was roughly divided among those who enjoyed the album on its own terms, those who liked the music but would prefer Halford sing it, and those who disliked it on all counts. Glenn Tipton defended the musical changes by saying, "You must remember that two albums went missing between 1990 and "Jugulator." To us, it's not the huge leap some people see it as."[2] Despite the mixed reception--Bullet Train and "Cathedral Spires" are generally regarded as classics--even by some critics who disliked the rest of the album.[citation needed]

A music video was shot for the song "Burn in Hell," though over 2 minutes of the song was removed in the final video. "Jugulator" and "Blood Stained" were also included on Judas Priest's box set Metalogy.